Waking dream

Posted on 10 Aug 2020 @ 3:33am by Lieutenant Rosine Deschamps

485 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Ab Intra
Location: In the shuttle (or not?)

Rosine opened her eyes. She could hardly see anything. Even though she was pretty sure her eyes were open, there was little more than darkness in front of her. As her eyes adjusted, she started to make out shapes. Something wasn't right. She wasn't in the shuttle. She wasn't on the surface. She was.. mid-air? This wasn't right. 

It had to be a dream. 

Or was she dead? 

She was floating. Her arms started flailing as she wanted to return to the surface. Electricity jolted her body and she yelped in pain. Only no sound came out. Twice more did she try to make her way to the ground, twice more she was hit by electricity. Twice more did she want to yell in pain, but nobody heard her. Forcing herself to relax, she tried to figure out what was happening. She clearly wasn't awake. She still wasn't sure whether or not she was dead. She vaguely remembered conversations about the sky being filled with electric charges. She wasn't an Engineer, so she had only listened to the Science part of things. But still, real electric charges couldn't hurt her in a dream. Or in death. Could they?

A moment later, she felt like she was moving. Not towards the ground though, and not by her own choice. She was moving towards the colony, closer than they'd ever made it on foot. She swore she could see electricity engulf her body, like waves of water, directing her body to the buildings. But electricity couldn't be seen. So what was going on? Panicking again, she really wanted to touch the ground. The jolt that hit her was the worst one thus far. It hurt like hell. She was sure she passed out a few moments - could you pass out when you're dead? - because when she looked around again, she was nearly over the closest building.

On the ground, she could determine shapes. Shapes of what? Shapes of who? It were organic shapes. Or were they? She squinted her eyes, trying to make them out more clearly. It didn't work. She tried shouting for attention, but still no sound left her mouth. 

The closer she got, the more she got a tingling feeling. It started in her toes, her feet, her shins, and it worked her way up until she felt like her brain was on fire. Stars, it hurt. It hurt so much. It had to stop! It really had to *stop*¨! Nobody could see her, nobody could hear her, nobody was there to help her. She was all alone, being eaten alive by electricity. She started to cry, and actual tears slid down her cheeks. Choking on the panic and the pain, she was sure she stopped breathing, if she was still alive at all.
 
As she thought about how this is what it felt like to die, darkness claimed her once more. 

 

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